Catch 'em while you can!
Freida Pinto in "Trishna"Freida Pinto in "Trishna"Category: headhunters
Freida Pinto in "Trishna"New releases in Portland-area theaters not reviewed in this week's A&E.
Johnny Depp in "Dark Shadows"An agreeable Norwegian comic thriller with touches of the Coen brothers.
Aksel Hennie in "Headhunters"Aksel Hennie stars as Roger Brown, an obnoxious corporate headhunter who’s self-conscious about being married to a gorgeous (and taller) woman. Feeling he must keep his missus happy, he augments his already sizeable income -- by stealing works of art from his business clients and replacing them with near-replicas. In the process what ought to be the biggest score of this second ‘career,’ Roger discovers a secret which shatters him and then must flee for his life from a bloodthirsty mercenary (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau).
Director Morten Tyldum (“Fallen Angels”), working from a novel by Jo Nesbø, nicely balances slickness, terror, comedy and the grotesque, and Hennie is almost too perfect in the lead, particularly in his insufferable early stages.
It’s a light entertainment -- provided you can be entertained by watching Roger suffer and quake as he does. And, almost inevitably, it’s been identified for a potential Hollywood remake. Do yourself a favor and see this one before some Yank director gets it all wrong.
(100 min., R, Cinema 21) Grade: B-plus
Shawn Levy's books include the best-sellers The Castle on Sunset, Rat Pack Confidential, Paul Newman: A Life, King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis, and Dolce Vita Confidential.
He also wrote and narrated the podcast Glitter & Might. The former film critic of The Oregonian and KGW-TV, he has written for Sight and Sound, Film Comment, American Film, Interview, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, and The Black Rock Beacon. He jumps and claps and sings for victory in Portland, Oregon.
